Inside 66: Order up!

[UncleWolf]

Victory's Secret

Without even leaving her counter, Talia reaches under it and pulls out a package to toss Kray's way. "That'll do ya, I think." She promises, grinning. There'd been no way for her to be so prepared, but nonetheless Kray will end up holding a black and white chevron pattern one-piece. "Not enchanted. Consider it a freebie on the house in return for your future services." She points out before getting a more serious expression on her face. "And really, if that armor needs adjustments, let me know. No rubbin' or pinchin' anywhere on ya?" She asks, as if she doesn't believe it. "Might be enchanted but it ain't perfect."

After that she turns to Eswil. "Pick one for ya new size an' original size both. I'll just charge ya for the price of one rather than two then. Go nuts otherwise."

Slightly Rainy Street

The insect girl's hug is tight and needy, and she hums as she clings to him. The humming was soothing on a subsonic level, but he was likely to pick up on it as well. It was designed to relieve stress not just for her, but for whomever she hugged as well. When he makes his offer, she reluctantly backs off and nods, ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go. As they walk, she'll keep the umbrella above them and work her letters with one hand.

NO NAME. GIVE ONE? AND WHATZ YOURS?

[Deathkeeper]

[Victory's Secret]

Kray bows thankfully. As embarrassed as she is, she can't turn down a gift. "Thank you. Um, do you want me to try it on?"
She flexes around in the armor, performing stretches. "It fits fine, really. What enchantments are on it exactly?"

[Slii Arhem]

Slightly Rainy Street

The insect girl's hug is tight and needy, and she hums as she clings to him. The humming was soothing on a subsonic level, but he was likely to pick up on it as well. It was designed to relieve stress not just for her, but for whomever she hugged as well. When he makes his offer, she reluctantly backs off and nods, ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go. As they walk, she'll keep the umbrella above them and work her letters with one hand.

NO NAME. GIVE ONE? AND WHATZ YOURS?

Slightly Rainy Street

"Zan. And you can be Lum." Rhymes with hum. He struggles to keep a straight face at the strange, small thing he's apparently just taking with him for the morning. Doesn't have a name, can inexplicably create miraculous substances and replicate what something ought to be just by seeing a broken version of it. Mute, but hums adorably to herself, and just wants affection and basic biological needs met in return.

He'd be ashamed to admit it, but he's read enough young adult fiction on his phone during his off hours to know where this is going. This little mite is going to wind up saving the world somehow, and he's fast approaching the point of no return on being a side-character that has at least a 60% chance of dying to motivate her on to victory.

He shrugs to himself imperceptibly. He's lived a quiet, unassuming life so far. Might as well leap headlong into the abyss.

Once he disengages from the hug it's a simple matter to walk the rest of the way to the now open machine shop. He'll either offer to hold one of the newly named Lum's hands or let her piggy-back, for the sake of keeping her close. He'll explain to the machinist he needs the gear tested in a few particular ways, and if it doesn't measure up he's willing to pay for a rush job to make another one so long as the shop will sign an affidavit swearing to its necessity. Anything less and his boss likely wouldn't refund him the costs.

[Victory's Secret]

Kray bows thankfully. As embarrassed as she is, she can't turn down a gift. "Thank you. Um, do you want me to try it on?"
She flexes around in the armor, performing stretches. "It fits fine, really. What enchantments are on it exactly?"

Victory's Secret

Without even leaving her counter, Talia reaches under it and pulls out a package to toss Kray's way. "That'll do ya, I think." She promises, grinning. There'd been no way for her to be so prepared, but nonetheless Kray will end up holding a black and white chevron pattern one-piece. "Not enchanted. Consider it a freebie on the house in return for your future services." She points out before getting a more serious expression on her face. "And really, if that armor needs adjustments, let me know. No rubbin' or pinchin' anywhere on ya?" She asks, as if she doesn't believe it. "Might be enchanted but it ain't perfect."

After that she turns to Eswil. "Pick one for ya new size an' original size both. I'll just charge ya for the price of one rather than two then. Go nuts otherwise."

Victory's Secret

Eswill is quick to seek out the flashiest, shiniest swimsuits she can find. One is a sequined blue and green bikini, one color fading into the other down the pieces. The next is made for her natural size, and is as close as she can get in shade to the color orange she's currently sporting on her top. It's nearly a two-piece for how much it covers, but is styled with a deep V neckline that ends at just above her navel, leaving some of her midriff bare. It's cut scandalously low in the back, and there's a gleam in her eye as she runs a finger over the stretchy, rubbery material it's made from.

There was no way she was resisting a BOGO offer like that. Talia's prices are getting more and more reasonable as they shop here!

[UncleWolf]

Victory's Secret

"Please, go ahead if you want. And as I said, it's made ta fit just about everyone, though that enchantment ain't perfect. Just as close to it as I can get." She explains, leaning on the counter. "Other than that, it's just about as protective as hard steel. That's it though. Pretty basic all in all." She explains before grinning when she spots Eswil. "Glad yer makin' the most of the offer, though I do ask ya don't put me in the red here." She jokes.

Slightly Rainy Street

Lum hums merrily about her new name and gladly takes the hand offered to her as they walk along. She doesn't "say" anything more with her sign, and initially she begins to try and enter the workshop proper with him until she's pointed at a sign that tells her that only employees were allowed back there. She frowns obviously behind her scarf, humming in malcontent and grumbling as she's left in the lobby with a rickety old gumball machine and her new friend.

By the time any of the workers come back to check on her, she'll be in the process of taking it apart with single-minded interest while she reworks the internals and chews on a stale gumball she snuck under her scarf without removing it. It was a simple machine and she was greatly distracted by trying to simplify it further and make it better.

[Deathkeeper]

[Victory's Secret]

Kray nods, taking off the armor and leaving it on the counter for later, as she retreats into the dressing room to replace her new normal clothes for the gift swimsuit. And has to look at herself in the mirror again. Is this really things women wear often? It's odd. And hopefully not too revealing. Spending most of the time shirtless, Krayger never really developed a sense of modesty. It's more that Kray is uncomfortable with attention being drawn to her new self. If she could she'd rather not think about her new features.
"So...um, how do I look?" she asks, coming out. She's never worn swimwear before. Is it supposed to fit like this? She hasn't gone around without pants well, since she was a child. "You said something about working my way up?"

[Slii Arhem]

[Victory's Secret]

Kray bows thankfully. As embarrassed as she is, she can't turn down a gift. "Thank you. Um, do you want me to try it on?"
She flexes around in the armor, performing stretches. "It fits fine, really. What enchantments are on it exactly?"

Victory's Secret

Eswill shakes her head at the playful accusation, "I'm all done. But how could I say no to all these pretty things!" It's true, between the purple dress outfit, the sea green bikini and the orange one piece she was in gobb heaven right now. Talia is going to have to watch out for swarms of new customers any day now.

The no-longer-so-tiny gobbun circles around Kray like a shark, her eyes nearly as predatory as the bloodthirsty beast as she gives her currently cursed companion a thorough once over. Reaching out, she tries to adjust how the fabric settles on a few areas Kray wouldn't really be used to having to think about, not usually wearing skin-tight garments like this one or having the body shaped to fit them. After trying to smooth down a few bits of fur that are causing the suit to stick up in random areas and would probably be uncomfortable, she nods decisively, "It suits you."

Victory's Secret

Without even leaving her counter, Talia reaches under it and pulls out a package to toss Kray's way. "That'll do ya, I think." She promises, grinning. There'd been no way for her to be so prepared, but nonetheless Kray will end up holding a black and white chevron pattern one-piece. "Not enchanted. Consider it a freebie on the house in return for your future services." She points out before getting a more serious expression on her face. "And really, if that armor needs adjustments, let me know. No rubbin' or pinchin' anywhere on ya?" She asks, as if she doesn't believe it. "Might be enchanted but it ain't perfect."

After that she turns to Eswil. "Pick one for ya new size an' original size both. I'll just charge ya for the price of one rather than two then. Go nuts otherwise."

Slightly Rainy Street

The insect girl's hug is tight and needy, and she hums as she clings to him. The humming was soothing on a subsonic level, but he was likely to pick up on it as well. It was designed to relieve stress not just for her, but for whomever she hugged as well. When he makes his offer, she reluctantly backs off and nods, ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go. As they walk, she'll keep the umbrella above them and work her letters with one hand.

NO NAME. GIVE ONE? AND WHATZ YOURS?

[Victory's Secret]

Kray nods, taking off the armor and leaving it on the counter for later, as she retreats into the dressing room to replace her new normal clothes for the gift swimsuit. And has to look at herself in the mirror again. Is this really things women wear often? It's odd. And hopefully not too revealing. Spending most of the time shirtless, Krayger never really developed a sense of modesty. It's more that Kray is uncomfortable with attention being drawn to her new self. If she could she'd rather not think about her new features.
"So...um, how do I look?" she asks, coming out. She's never worn swimwear before. Is it supposed to fit like this? She hasn't gone around without pants well, since she was a child. "You said something about working my way up?"

Victory's Secret

"Please, go ahead if you want. And as I said, it's made ta fit just about everyone, though that enchantment ain't perfect. Just as close to it as I can get." She explains, leaning on the counter. "Other than that, it's just about as protective as hard steel. That's it though. Pretty basic all in all." She explains before grinning when she spots Eswil. "Glad yer makin' the most of the offer, though I do ask ya don't put me in the red here." She jokes.

Slightly Rainy Street

Lum hums merrily about her new name and gladly takes the hand offered to her as they walk along. She doesn't "say" anything more with her sign, and initially she begins to try and enter the workshop proper with him until she's pointed at a sign that tells her that only employees were allowed back there. She frowns obviously behind her scarf, humming in malcontent and grumbling as she's left in the lobby with a rickety old gumball machine and her new friend.

By the time any of the workers come back to check on her, she'll be in the process of taking it apart with single-minded interest while she reworks the internals and chews on a stale gumball she snuck under her scarf without removing it. It was a simple machine and she was greatly distracted by trying to simplify it further and make it better.

Slightly Rainy Morning

Zan watches her work and has a few quick muttered words with those machinists who pass through the lobby looking quizzically at what Lum's doing. He promises that she'll put it back together when she's done, and says he found her practically homeless in the street looking for work, so he's keeping an eye on her while he finishes his shift out. All true, at least he hopes that she'll be putting it back together.

And he pays for the gumball, though that provokes a chuckle from the shop owner who is keenly watching Lum from behind the lobby's counter after a few minutes of her progress. Both out of interest and because that gumball machine predates his ownership of the shop, and has become kind of a fixture. He confesses under his breath to Zan that he'd hate to see the thing broken, even if it's got more new parts in it than old and has been used for practice by most of the new journeymen to pass through here.

Eventually, the gear is taken back to the lobby and declared sound by a puzzled old worker who probably ran more testing on it than was strictly necessary. Zan beams, but has to shake his head in bemused wonder. Putty made into a gear that's at least as strong as good steel. And a sick little feeling in his gut tells him that he can't afford to let this adorable little wonder go now. At least not without leaving her in a better state than he found her.

"Alright Lum, I owe you a big meal now. Come on, let's get going back to my work. I'll pop in there quick, secure the gear in place, and we'll be off somewhere with huge portions and lots of salt, sugar, and grease." Which is his idea of nectar and ambrosia if there ever was one.

[Devixer]

Cookware Store

The shuttle is still there, but Ezra isn't sure if he's ready to head back to the colony yet. "Where else could I find information about this place, or supplies, perhaps?" he muses.

Onora shrugs. "How the hell would I know that?" she says, as though she were being addressed at all.
"Observation: Preliminary scans suggest congregations of life forms in buildings called "taverns." Attempting to access data of any orbiting satellites."
"I guess you can wait for the Pod's scans, but that'll take forever without a real connection.

Kushiro Inn

"Hoo-poo." Not a very helpful answer, but it sounds... Somehow reassuring. Like whatever it wants, it doesn't want to hurt either of them. Even though there's no more comprehensive information transferred by the bird.

Keiko sighs and withdraws her hand from her staff. "I suppose I shouldn't expect more from a bird, as intuitive as it seems. If you wish only to observe, I suppose I cannot stop you." She attempts to return to her meditations, but it's a little tougher with the distraction.

[UncleWolf]

Victory's Secret

Talia grins. "Perfect, lass. Yer ready ta knock 'em all dead." She promises to Kray before looking at Eswil with the same grin. "If ya come back sometime to model for me, I'll start tossin' free stuff yer way from time to time. Both of ya lasses."

Slightly Rainy Shop

The gumball machine is pieced back together after a while, several pieces replaced with foreign ones. While aesthetically it was the same, Zum had definitely changed the internal workings. When she pulls out a coin she'd taken from the bank inside of it and puts it back into the machine, there's just a slight whir before the gumball machine automatically dispenses a treat. She pockets the treat and uses a larger denomination next, getting two balls at the same time for her troubles. She gives a pleased hum afterwards and just stands up, ready to go while she ignores the remains of the mess she'd made.

She's ready to venture onward!

[Deathkeeper]

Victory's Secret

Eswill shakes her head at the playful accusation, "I'm all done. But how could I say no to all these pretty things!" It's true, between the purple dress outfit, the sea green bikini and the orange one piece she was in gobb heaven right now. Talia is going to have to watch out for swarms of new customers any day now.

The no-longer-so-tiny gobbun circles around Kray like a shark, her eyes nearly as predatory as the bloodthirsty beast as she gives her currently cursed companion a thorough once over. Reaching out, she tries to adjust how the fabric settles on a few areas Kray wouldn't really be used to having to think about, not usually wearing skin-tight garments like this one or having the body shaped to fit them. After trying to smooth down a few bits of fur that are causing the suit to stick up in random areas and would probably be uncomfortable, she nods decisively, "It suits you."

Victory's Secret

Talia grins. "Perfect, lass. Yer ready ta knock 'em all dead." She promises to Kray before looking at Eswil with the same grin. "If ya come back sometime to model for me, I'll start tossin' free stuff yer way from time to time. Both of ya lasses."

[Victory's Secret]

"It suits me, or it suits her?" Kray asks sadly, getting to the root of the problem. She does seem to cheer up at Talia's compliments. "Well, I can't really do my job very effectively like this, so I'll have to take off. If you just need me to try things on I'd be glad to have something to do." She knows what a model is, but isn't entirely sure what Talia has in mind.

[Slii Arhem]

[Victory's Secret]

"It suits me, or it suits her?" Kray asks sadly, getting to the root of the problem. She does seem to cheer up at Talia's compliments. "Well, I can't really do my job very effectively like this, so I'll have to take off. If you just need me to try things on I'd be glad to have something to do." She knows what a model is, but isn't entirely sure what Talia has in mind.

Victory's Secret

"That'd be nice. I have a lot of free time when not attending to warren duties, so I could swing by once or twice a week." She'll jot down a number on a scrap of cardboard she pulls from her bag, "You can ask for me there and we can set up a time. I'll call you back if I'm out." Reaching back into the bag, she pulls out enough to cover her purchases and, after a moment's thought, Kray's bathing suit as well, "Don't be so sour about it. If fey are going to mess with you anyway, you need to make the most of it. If I was turned male I'd be seeing how the other half lived for at least a little while. Now, you should get changed into something less likely to cause car accidents and we should go somewhere else peeping spectral eyes won't think to look for you. I'm already woefully late getting back, I'm surprised they haven't sent out search parties for me by now, but if we swing by my warren to drop my things off, I'm free to tag along wherever you want to go the rest of the day. Alright Kray?" She really does mean well enough. This isn't an ideal situation, but Krayger has to play spooky keepaway from a troublesome fey and hope it's working well enough without any real way of knowing. It's hard to keep your spirits up in those situations.

Victory's Secret

Talia grins. "Perfect, lass. Yer ready ta knock 'em all dead." She promises to Kray before looking at Eswil with the same grin. "If ya come back sometime to model for me, I'll start tossin' free stuff yer way from time to time. Both of ya lasses."

Slightly Rainy Shop

The gumball machine is pieced back together after a while, several pieces replaced with foreign ones. While aesthetically it was the same, Zum had definitely changed the internal workings. When she pulls out a coin she'd taken from the bank inside of it and puts it back into the machine, there's just a slight whir before the gumball machine automatically dispenses a treat. She pockets the treat and uses a larger denomination next, getting two balls at the same time for her troubles. She gives a pleased hum afterwards and just stands up, ready to go while she ignores the remains of the mess she'd made.

She's ready to venture onward!

Slightly Rainy Morning

Zan gestures to the pile of scrap and spare parts questioningly, but the shop owner just shakes his head, "I'll have one of the apprentices clean it up. Your girl there does good work. Shame I couldn't take on another hand right now, but work's scarce already these days. Tell your boss I've got the order ready for his shipping and receiving bay by end of day today as well. He'll send someone over to pick it up by noon if I don't say otherwise." Zan foots the bill for the journeyman's time and use of the tools and takes Lum by the hand again, guiding her off back towards his work.

Once there, he turns to the smaller, yellow-gold girl and crouches slightly to put himself on her level, "I have to badge in here, so I can't take you in with me because you're not allowed on site without a badge like mine." He pulls his out from under his rain poncho and waves it around. It has a very unflattering, grainy picture of him on it with faded text.

"If you wait outside here though, I'll be back in five or ten minutes. If anyone asks you why you're by this door, tell them I told you to wait for me." He pauses and scribbles a note to that effect, signing it and pressing it into her hands before enfolding her in another quick hug, "Need anything else before I go?" He's all prepped to dart inside if she's all taken care of, or if her potential request can be handled quickly.

[UncleWolf]

Victory's Secret

"Nah. It fits you, whomever you decide ta be." Talia reasons before tallying up the total for the purchases. They were on the pricier side of reasonable, but the service was probably easy to consider stellar. In trade for Eswil's number, Talia slips a business card into the bags for the clothing as she passes them over. "Now don't be strangers. I get off at nine if ya wanna give me a call." She adds with a wink before settling back into her seat and letting the pair finish up the rest of their day.

Slightly Rainy Shops

Lum gladly takes his hand, and gladly takes the hug after his explanation and the note. She eyes the badge quite a bit before shaking her head. She didn't need anything else and will just wait patiently for him to return.

Of course, by the time he returns he might find her in the middle of making her own RFID badge, including a picture of him etched on it. She hadn't quite caught on that the picture was for personal identification and wasn't supposed to just have him on it instead. It is very unlikely to be a good idea to leave her unsupervised for too long...

[Deathkeeper]

[Victory's Secret]

Kray looks at Eswil, and smiles a little. "You're a good friend, Eswil." she says softly, before clopping her way back to the room to change into her plainclothes.
She'll be back shortly, chipping in her share for the armor and ready to follow Eswil wherever. The hoodie will go into the bag for later. The torn pants will go into whatever bin Talia has on hand for garbage clothes.

[Lord Magtok]

Gate

Spoiler: The Last Three Posts

Show

[Gate]

Michalson leans against the truck, groaning. Why is it so hard all of a sudden? Needs' concentrated weirdness must be taking a toll, he supposes. At this rate he might have to drop it and try to use one of his gadgets to help Ithuriel, rather than keep Needs in check. Seems the effect was what Needs wanted.

Gate

Ellrin is fed up with this angel. He's made it clear he doesn't want to hurt her. He just wanted to interview Magtok, but nothing ever goes according to plan. He ducks under Ithuriel's grab attempt and tries to stomp on her toes, a clearly nonlethal or even significantly harmful technique, but a painful one. "What're you made of? That should've stunned even a Celestial like you!"

[Gate]

He doesn't want to hurt her. He's just shot at her twice.

Ithuriel blinks and shifts her feet as Ellrin tries to tread on them. Well, that was a bit pathetic? It's enough to make her stop trying to pummel him for a moment anyway. "You really don't get this, do you? You ignored my instructions, repeatedly. You threatened Needs who is acting weird, sure, but hasn't actually done anything harmful to anyone yet, pointed a weapon at him, defied my instructions again to put the weapon away and instead decided to start shooting at me. Your intentions really don't matter at this point, you're still under arrest."

"What a thrill, with darkness and silence through the night," our sorcerous screwball murmurs, wisps of magicka building around him. Aha! A vulnerability! Needs pushes harder, leans into Michalson's ability to focus, and the moment he senses an opening, rolls back his sleeve, rolls back the skin on that arm, plucks an impossibly long venomous snake from between two exposed muscles on his forearm, reels back to fling it at Ellrin and/or Ithuriel, an-

"Down, Needs. Down. Put it back. I know we want to get going, but she explicitly said no vigilante stuff. That means no helping, not even if you're trying to be nice. Let them deal with it," Magtok insists, grabbing his clone brother by the shoulder, taking care to keep as much space between himself and that pit viper as possible, because gods know he doesn't want to get bit by a venomous snake on his first day back in the Nexus. Raptor Christ, when did Needs add that to his bag of tricks? It's so disgusting and needlessly gruesome, too! Thankfully it gets sucked back into Needs's arm without much more than a sullen, petulant look from the spellcaster, who was apparently quite certain he could solve all their problems by throwing a live snake into the mix.

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

The hoopoe will leave Makuro and Keiko alone, for the rest of the night. It'll even sleep itself, tucking its head beneath its wing as it does so.

Intersection Headquarters

A ring of mushrooms grows just outside the building, in the grass verge between the building and the path. The mushrooms are red-capped, with white spots, and glow and spark with green magic. After a few moments, a half-orc appears in the circle of fungi, and two sprites appear dancing- really badly- around it. The sprites are quick to stop dancing and grab the half-orc by the ears.

The half-orc is a weedy, bald example, with khaki skin and a single stubby tusk. He has a long coat and dungarees on, and he's squealing as the sprites tug his ears, until he stands up. Then he squeals again, as they lead him into the building. The sprites are male, six-inches tall, with pink tutus and hobnailed boots. They try to drag the half-orc into the building; despite the size difference, the half-orc goes along willingly.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Abandoned Tech Store]

This particular iteration of the Professor seems...chipper, is the only real word Edict can find for it.
But perhaps the fellow is running off the high of discovery, or whatever that is. He's aware of at least one witch that gets oddly friendly when some goals are met, who is normally prickly.

"I wouldn't say that I am disappointed..."
After all, Edict still isn't really sure what his thought was there. Possibly relief? Hmmm, yes, that might be closest. Why relief though?
"And while I would be somewhat interested to know if amassing your creations together draws forth your original consciousness, it is not something I particularly need to see now. Although I would also be interested in knowing if you had a particular reason in calling me here, or if you were simply showing off your latest design."

The statement isn't meant to be standoffish, though in hindsight perhaps it came out that way.
Particularly when the likely answer occurs to him a moment later.
"No, I suppose you didn't have a deeper plan, if you're desiring 'noteworthy activity'. I'm not sure what you would consider noteworthy, these days. At present, I am just seeking out...unusual phenomena. Something peculiar enough to be worth my time and interest."

Which he had found!
Before the Professor ruined it. Totally on purpose.

[Abandoned Tech Store]

"A reason for bringing you here? Well, old habits are undying, I'll admit. The desire to show off is still there. I don't think it ever really goes away, does it? We creators are all proud of our creations, aren't we?" Although in this case the creation is sort of showing off itself. Himself. But from Affidavit's perspective, he did create himself even if he is aware he isn't actually hi-

There's some strange jumps in thought going on there. Probably best not to think about it too much.

"I did have reasons beyond that, though. Nothing particularly exciting, I'm afraid. These are not the days of KNAVES where we could go on rampant sprees of chaos and catastrophe. It's been far too long since we could get away with that. But it's also been far too long since I did much of anything. So one of the reasons I asked you here was to request information. I have kept to myself for far too long. I know not how active you've been compared to myself, but it would be useful to get a clearer understanding of the current situation out there. The Nexus does delight in changing all the time." With one holographic hand, Affidavit spins a holographic disk. The other hand dances like a puppeteer pulling at strings, causing settlments to rise and fall upon the disk, spreading in an erratic manner as is the norm for the Nexus. All entirely pointless, of course.

[Morty]

[Gate]

Michalson reels and the entire disenchantment effect goes away like so much summer breeze.

"What in the- aaaah!"

He glares at Needs and Magtok with bloodshot eyes.

"What did you do?"

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

With a lack of any further interruption, Keiko is eventually able to recover her place in her mind, and return to her meditations. She doesn't move from that spot all night, slipping between meditation and a deep sleep.

[Slii Arhem]

Victory's Secret

"Nah. It fits you, whomever you decide ta be." Talia reasons before tallying up the total for the purchases. They were on the pricier side of reasonable, but the service was probably easy to consider stellar. In trade for Eswil's number, Talia slips a business card into the bags for the clothing as she passes them over. "Now don't be strangers. I get off at nine if ya wanna give me a call." She adds with a wink before settling back into her seat and letting the pair finish up the rest of their day.

Slightly Rainy Shops

Lum gladly takes his hand, and gladly takes the hug after his explanation and the note. She eyes the badge quite a bit before shaking her head. She didn't need anything else and will just wait patiently for him to return.

Of course, by the time he returns he might find her in the middle of making her own RFID badge, including a picture of him etched on it. She hadn't quite caught on that the picture was for personal identification and wasn't supposed to just have him on it instead. It is very unlikely to be a good idea to leave her unsupervised for too long...

Slightly Rainy Morning

After being tied up for slightly longer than he thought, and definitely longer than he wanted to be, by meatheads all looking to taunt and rib the short, fluffy night-shift maintenance crew, Zan barges out onto the street, hands screwed up into fists and hot breath rushing in and out past clenched teeth. "Fuggin meatheads..." He closes his eyes, takes one last, deep breath and lets the tension drop from his body, shoulders slumping and arms hanging loose at his sides.

Then he walks right over to Lum and pats her on the head, not letting himself notice if his hand shakes slightly with nervous energy, "Good news for you Lum. I talked my supervisor into shelling out for the work you did on the gear. I knew what that shop would have charged me, roughly, and lopped off 10% of the quote to make it reasonable. Minus the recompense for getting the shop to verify your work and it comes out to a decently hefty sum." He holds up a cheque, but quickly slips it back under his poncho to protect it from the rain. And then he finally notices what she's been doing with her time.

Well that was either worrying or adorably simple-minded of her. But still... no harm done, just a simple misunderstanding, "Ah, Lum, when I said you couldn't get in without a badge like mine, I meant that you shouldn't be allowed in because you don't work inside there. The badges just keep people out. And it can't just look like mine, the look isn't even important. It has a radio signal that the door checks, and if it's right it opens up for the badge. Plus, it's supposed to have your own name and face on it, and an employee number." He tries to explain it all patiently, somewhat worried what she'd do with the information but not seriously entertaining the idea that she could make her own radio transmitter out of putty.

"Now, I promised you food. My treat. Then I'll cash your cheque and you should be able to find somewhere to sleep indoors with the money, at least for a little while. Sound good?"

[Victory's Secret]

Kray looks at Eswil, and smiles a little. "You're a good friend, Eswil." she says softly, before clopping her way back to the room to change into her plainclothes.
She'll be back shortly, chipping in her share for the armor and ready to follow Eswil wherever. The hoodie will go into the bag for later. The torn pants will go into whatever bin Talia has on hand for garbage clothes.

Victory's Secret

With a fond farewell to Talia, Eswill heads off to put away her shopping and figure out where to take Kray next. The minotaur will have to wait outside while she heads into the apartment complex the gobbuns call home. Both because it's rude to invite someone over without at least a bit of warning and because gobbun warrens are remodeled mostly with gobbun-sized hallways and ceilings in the living areas, to cut down on wasted space. Apart from the main floor and storage areas, she'd be unbelievably cramped trying to get around.

[UncleWolf]

Slightly Rainy Morning

Lum frowns at the card she'd been making, her brain piecing together the valuable clues before she nods and tucks it away under her poncho. He'd given her quite a bit of useful information that let her make some leaps in what she had to design. Transmitter in the card told the door to open! Simple, really. But she didn't have the tools on hand to deal with that now, nor did she have the right tools to find out which sort of radio signal she needed to latch onto. Oh well, she'd finish the work later when she had proper materials then. As he continues explaining everything, she gets up and leans against the Gobbun before finally looking a bit perplexed at him. She pulls up her sign and begins arranging letters once more, her brow furrowed in confusion and thought.

LUM NOT STAY WITH YOU? AM GOOD FIXER.

Apart from her terrible grasp of the written language and her adorableness, being able to build and fix things probably was her main selling point. And as if thinking precisely that, she rearranges the letters again to continue her pleading.

CUTE, WARM, AND GOOD HUGZ TOO. She promises.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Abandoned Tech Store]

Well, that's a rather difficult question to ask.
It's not easy to tell, but Edict does frown a bit as he considers it.
"I have been...away, for quite some time. I can't supply you with much in particular beyond more of what you have already noted: things are not as they once were.
It would appear to be...calmer. No less bizarre and disjointed, chaos shall ever rule here I imagine, but the disruptions appear to have scaled down tremendously. No moons are falling upon the city, no gods are cracking the earth and threatening to displace everyone into the sea. Scuffles still exist, I have been following some, but open warfare seems to be lesser as a rule."

Due to the nature of the Nexus, he's sure there are locations where these things can be found or are prevalent, but as afflictions upon the city as a whole...no. Things have been tamed somewhat.
It's rather amusing, really, the opportunities that could be taken from simple lack of disaster-enforced vigilance.

The shade's frown disappears at the thought, replaced by a more Edict-typical smirk.
"This may be as close to peace as this land is capable of."

[bc56]

Gate

"Good, you've stopped trying to punch me. Now we can talk. First of all, you can't arrest me." Ellrin pauses to make sure Ithuriel is paying attention. "As a representative of the government of Rveltri, I have diplomatic immunity. Furthermore, I am under standing orders to investigate all phenomena relating to the potential destruction of planets and the resurrection of the dead, and to secure or neutralize the first and to research and possibly obtain the second. I am here because Magtok represents the second category, and I would like a brief interview with him." Ellrin stows the pistol, but keeps his sword unsheathed. With his now free hand, he pulls out a device like a tablet computer, upon which relevant documents are displayed.

Cookware Store
"We can wait," Ezra says, "It is not like either of us will die of old age. If it takes more than an hour, however, I will need to return to the colony."

[Slii Arhem]

Slightly Rainy Morning

Lum frowns at the card she'd been making, her brain piecing together the valuable clues before she nods and tucks it away under her poncho. He'd given her quite a bit of useful information that let her make some leaps in what she had to design. Transmitter in the card told the door to open! Simple, really. But she didn't have the tools on hand to deal with that now, nor did she have the right tools to find out which sort of radio signal she needed to latch onto. Oh well, she'd finish the work later when she had proper materials then. As he continues explaining everything, she gets up and leans against the Gobbun before finally looking a bit perplexed at him. She pulls up her sign and begins arranging letters once more, her brow furrowed in confusion and thought.

LUM NOT STAY WITH YOU? AM GOOD FIXER.

Apart from her terrible grasp of the written language and her adorableness, being able to build and fix things probably was her main selling point. And as if thinking precisely that, she rearranges the letters again to continue her pleading.

CUTE, WARM, AND GOOD HUGZ TOO. She promises.

Slightly Rainy Morning

Zan sighs and rubs the back of his neck, laying a hand across the small, strange girl's shoulders, "I can't deny any of that, but my place is rather full up at the moment, and I don't get the final say as to who lives there." Gobbun warrens were generally gobbun only, being owned by everyone in the extended family. And entirely besides that they were packed to bursting and way past full occupancy, which would be a safety issue if the spots they bought hadn't previously been owned by slumlords and already too far gone for even decrepit to describe them in the first place. Just the fact that gobbun families tended to be very intent on the structural integrity of everything they owned meant that having them occupy these formerly crumbling heaps increased their safety factor a thousand-fold.

"Do you have anywhere else to stay? If not, I could start looking for another place. I certainly make enough to find a place to live outside the warren, it's just that not many decide to do that, since pooling your resources and living together's always been traditional for us." And even if this turned out to be a horrible decision that ended with her harvesting his organs for spare parts needed for whatever techno-organic crafting she seemed to like doing, Zan was willing to see this out to the end. Lum was just far too interesting a mystery to a guy who spent most of his off hours reading trashy to moderately good sci-fi and fantasy on his phone.

[UncleWolf]

Slightly Rainy Morning

Lum shifts a bit uncomfortably in front of Zan, reaching up to tug one of her antennae as she frets over some decision or another. Eventually, after much internal deliberation she slowly shifts her letters around once more. It takes several times for her to get her full message out however, so hopefully Zan is patient about the slow method of communication.

LUM UNDERSTAND. HAZ PLACE OF HER OWN.
BIG SHIP. BADLY BROKEN AND OUT OF FOODS.
NEED LOTS OF SUPPLIES TO FIX. CAN HELP?

PLZ?

With the last word, she looks up at the Gobbun, silently pleading and begging behind her visor and under her hood.

[Slii Arhem]

Slightly Rainy Morning

Lum shifts a bit uncomfortably in front of Zan, reaching up to tug one of her antennae as she frets over some decision or another. Eventually, after much internal deliberation she slowly shifts her letters around once more. It takes several times for her to get her full message out however, so hopefully Zan is patient about the slow method of communication.

LUM UNDERSTAND. HAZ PLACE OF HER OWN.
BIG SHIP. BADLY BROKEN AND OUT OF FOODS.
NEED LOTS OF SUPPLIES TO FIX. CAN HELP?

PLZ?

With the last word, she looks up at the Gobbun, silently pleading and begging behind her visor and under her hood.

His arm pulls her in close for a tight hug, then lets her go, "First we're getting you food, then we'll go look at this ship. I'm not as good of a fixer as you are, but if there's anything I can do, I'll try. If it's supplies, maybe I can ask for help from some friends in low places who know where we can get things, but it depends on what it needs." Okay, so she has a ship. Alien immediately spring to Zan's mind, which honestly wasn't outside of the real of possibility anyway. He doubts she sailed here.

"So, what do you like to eat?" He prefers fast food donuts after a long shift like he's just had, but he's willing to defer to Lum's tastes. If she has any in particular.

[UncleWolf]

Slightly Rainy Morning

Even though Lum is let go eventually, she doesn't stop leaning into him, using him as a source of comfort while she arrangers her letters excitedly at the prospect of both food and help.

NEED HIGH FATZ, PROTEIN, AND SUGARZ.
SOLID OR LIQUID, BOTH GOOD. LIQUID EZR.

She pauses for a moment then, almost sheepish and embarrassed as she writes out her third message.

CAFFEINE BAD FOR LUM. MAKE DIZZY.

After explaining her needs, she snuggles up close to his arm, props the umbrella up over them and is ready to move on.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Gate

"...you are aware that diplomatic immunity is not absolute freedom to do what you want, right? Claiming diplomatic immunity generally doesn't work well after you've shot an officer." Ithuriel sighs, folding her arms, "Also if I let any old officer-shooting psycho on the streets go just because they say they've got diplomatic immunity, I wouldn't be doing my job very well, would I? So, no. You're still coming in. Whether or not your diplomatic immunity is relevant depends on whether Inside recognises your nation...and if it cares." The Nexus is a strange place, after all. With how often stuff gets trapped here, Ithuriel isn't sure Inside would ever try to form relationships with anyone who isn't based directly in the Nexus.

This is all a little over her head anyway. She's an officer, not a clerk stuck at a desk with a mountain of paperwork all day.

"There's no shortage of planet-killing weapons around here including, I suspect, Magtok's companion over there." She turns to find Magtok midway through preventing snake-throwing and shrugs, "And if you think I'm going to let you secure or neutralise him, you've got another thing coming. As for Magtok? He uses clones. Nothing to do with resurrection. And really, if you wanted to interview him, couldn't it wait until after we were done here instead of making a scene? So, I suggest you be a good boy, put that damn sword away and surrender yourself, and we'll see what happens down at the station."

*****

[Abandoned Tech Store]

"It all sounds a bit boring, don't you think? People just living out their lives as if everything is fine; never learning, never growing, never changing, never suffering. I think they'd all just stagnate completely into idleness if they weren't given the occasional bit of...disruption." There's a ripple of movement through the piles of old equipment, like some sort of visual representation of the Professor's dislike of this quiet, peaceful world.

"I suppose it shouldn't really surprise me. It was strange enough that I was able to create a laboratory out in the open without consequence. People forget so quickly, don't they?" Affidavit lets out a heavy sigh, the sound causing a wave to flow across the piles of junk. He's sort of treating this whole place as one big plaything. Well, it is rather fun. "Maybe they need a reminder..."

[Devixer]

Cookware Store

"What, you gotta go plug in? Or are you not connected to the colony or something? Guess I hadn't thought of that, I haven't had any communications with base for two weeks now."

"There are several buildings referred to as "taverns" where lifeforms converge. Preliminary scans suggest a police presence in the city as well." Onora briefly wonders what the heck a police is.

[bc56]

Cookware Store

"No, I need to check on the colonists. I am their most significant defensive asset, and I cannot be away for long. It would be a travesty if my charges were slain while I was away." Ezra looks at the pod. "A police force is the closest thing to a government I have heard of here. Maybe we should investigate."

[Lord Magtok]

[Gate]

Michalson reels and the entire disenchantment effect goes away like so much summer breeze.

"What in the- aaaah!"

He glares at Needs and Magtok with bloodshot eyes.

"What did you do?"

"I like to believe I prevented anyone from having snakes thrown at their face, Michalson," Magtok snarks back, still holding Needs by the wrist as the angel and alien conflict continues. "Unless this entire world has changed drastically while I've been gone, you let people just as powerful into this city every day, and none of those freaks warn you ahead of time or come with a helpful minder keeping them in check, do they?" Magtok sure hopes not. It'd tear apart his entire attack on Intersection's completely justified irrational fear of Needs!

[Chaotic Bob]

[Abandoned Tech Store]

"A reminder, hm?"
Edict's gaze travels to his left arm, flexing the fingers there and seemingly searching for something.
After a moment of nothing in particular, his smirk grows into something bordering maniacal.

His eyes blaze for a moment and he hisses, the darkness of the room deepening, or perhaps something endless void encroaching.
"They wouldn't know what to do with a reminder!"
The shadows retreat a moment later, along with the unrestrained menace of his voice.

"But, 'haste is ever the enemy of success', or so I've been told. If we march through those doors and leap straight to blatant mass murder, I don't think it would have the effect you would be interested in."
Not with the seemingly endless populace of the Nexus, sinking and swelling eternally, like the breath of creation.